If they pull off a second-straight win without him—and, especially, if they they manage to make it three in a row against Minnesota on Thanksgiving—it’ll be hard for Ansah to make the case he’s worth a market-setting free agent deal at the end of the year.

Detroit seemed to put themselves in the same situation as they did with departed defensive end Cliff Avril before his final year: Either he establishes himself as an elite free agent, in which case the Lions won’t be able to afford him—or he proves he’s easily replaceable, in which case Detroit would probably just replace him.

So far, Ansah has four sacks in eight games, while much-cheaper players like Anthony Zettel (six) and Cornelius Washington (two) have been getting it done in his absence.

Either way it looks increasingly like Ansah won’t be around next year.

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If so, that’s a sad end to a Lions career that started with a No. 5 overall pick wisely spent (thanks to a well-leveraged opportunity to coach him at the Senior Bowl), and has since seen 36 sacks, a Pro Bowl nod and (at least) two playoff appearances.